1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a droplet discharging head, and more particularly relates to a droplet discharging head suited to the discharge of a bio-related substance.
2. Description of the Related Art
The decoding of DNA base sequences and the functional analysis of genetic information have become topics of great interest in recent years, and DNA microarrays have been utilized for monitoring gene expression patterns and for screening new genes. With these arrays, probe DNA is prepared and spotted at high density on a substrate such as a slide glass, after which the portion of fluorescent-labeled target DNA having base sequences that are compatible with the probe DNA is hybridized and the fluorescent pattern is observed, which gives an evaluation of the amount of gene expression. The size of these arrays is usually from 1 to 10 cm2, and from several thousand to several tens of thousands of types of probe DNA must be spotted at high density in this area. Up to now the fixing of the probe DNA has been performed using contact pins.
With the completion of the genome project, focus has shifted to protein analysis as the next phase, and protein chips that make use of the same mechanism as a DNA microarray have been developed.
In this situation, a method for fixing probe DNA or a protein by using inkjet discharge technology has been proposed.